Ruling Class Spokesman Can’t Understand America’s ‘Obsession’ With Inequality

[n2doc]

Holman Jenkins, like any good upper class white male member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, is absolutely perplexed by America's "Inequality Obsession." Look America, the whole "I am concerned about the alarming levels of income inequality in America" thing? Yeah. It's getting to be kind of... how can Holman Jenkins put this politely... an obsession. Not cute.

"Income inequality is a strange obsession, at least to the extent the obsessives focus their policy responses on trying to adjust the condition of the top 1% rather than improving the opportunities of everyone else," writes Holman Jenkins. You're looking at this the wrong way, old boy. Give me your money, Holman Jenkins. That would improve my condition. The effect on your condition is merely incidental. Stop being so self-centered.

Why are the 99% of Americans who are not in the top 1% of American income so obsessed with the fact that they find themselves rather poor while others are fabulously wealthy? Holman Jenkins has some theories:

One factor is a certain human soul-sickness that's impossible to put a constructive gloss on. Why is the New York Times disproportionately given over to cataloging the consumption of the rich in a tone even more cringing for its pretending to be snarky? Why do some of our dreariest journalists spend all their time writing about Goldman Sachs, except to associate themselves with the status object they attack in order to raise their own status?

That goes doubly for the inequality obsessives. How society stimulates the creation and distribution of income is an important topic-so important that one could wish it were less infected with the pathology Freud diagnosed as "group spirit" and which he said was ultimately founded on envy.

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http://gawker.com/5903060/ruling-class-spokesman-cant-understand-americas-obsession-with-inequality

[upaloopa]

1. Seems like something the French aristocracy must have said

just before the masses rolled out the guillotine.

[dimbear]

2. For every Dem who cares about inequality, there's a Rep who thinks wealth is sign of God's

approval.

It just balances out.

[justgamma]

3. I don't give a flying fig about income inequality.

I don't think we are using the right language. I don't really care if the rich get richer.

I do care that they get all the breaks. They need to pay their fair share of taxes.

Most of the ultra rich got that way because ordinary laborers actually created that wealth.
It's when the CEO's get huge bonuses for laying off people. If they can get the workers to take less money, it means a big bonus for the bosses.

Making record breaking profits, then have the workers take a cut in pay. That's what irks me.

The 1% just do not want to give credit where credit is due or compensate the ones who are working their asses off to make the rich richer. Make all the money you want, but let the workers share some. How much money do they need anyway.

[90-percent]

4. Rich bastards

I'm not jealous or envious of rich people. I could give a rats ass about all their stuff.

What pisses me off is the concentration of wealth and how they have used their money and power to simply extract the money out of every enterprise they end up owning.

Vulture Capitalists, Predatory Capitalists. Sociopaths that gladly wipe out a company town in the name of ever more profits above all else.

The distribution of wealth figures for the last thirty to fifty years clearly show that their ever increasing slice of the pie is being taken from the share of the bottom 99%. Middle class income has grown 2-3% in the last 30 years while the wealthiest has seen their incomes grow in the neighborhood of 50-100% in the same time period.

They're already wealthy and want even more and have figured out a way to take it from working people.

Thom Hartmann has a clear understanding of how this came to be. Progressiveism and Progressive Taxation is the way out of this and all us lefties should school up on the principles of progressiveism as it relates to tax policy.

A return to progressive taxation will be welcome for all of us in the bottom 99%.

And it's due. Like Rachel says on her radio commercials - Trickle Down Economics has had a generation to work, and it simply DOESN'T! Enriching the already rich is asinine and stupid and hurts our country and our people..

And we now have one of the most outstanding Vulture Capitalists running for President and he's actually beating Obama in an occasional poll!

Just how fucking stupid are us average Americans, anyway? There should be riots in streets all over America from the filibuster of the Buffet Rule last week. I would guess 90% of Americans don't even know it came and went.

I really can't fathom why the Presidential race is even close. Romney should be utterly repellant to all but millionaires.

-90% Jimmy

[MMJjestic]

5. like the Nine Inch Nails song Capital G

the more you have, the less I'll be keeping for me

[bemildred]

6. Well, I can't understand their "obsession" with money. nt

[Fumesucker]

7. Perhaps Maybach or Bugatti should go into the tumbrel building business?

I can easily envision Mr Jenkins in his sleek, calf's leather upholstered tumbrel on the way to a meeting with Dr Guillotin.